Several liberal groups on Wednesday assailed the American Legislative Exchange Council and supply-side economics guru Arthur Laffer for urging states to ratchet back on spending and cut taxes.

The council, known as ALEC, was little-known for decades until the Trayvon Martin shooting death last year propelled it into TV news headlines, as scrutiny of its recommended laws on gun rights and voter ID created a backlash. Still, the group has made deep inroads in the Texas Legislature over the past 10 or 15 years. On the fiscal front, it pushes ideas such as state constitutional amendments to limit spending growth to the sum of inflation and population. See Section 3 of this ALEC model bill.

Gov. Rick Perry has made that very notion a centerpiece of his Texas Budget Compact. His proposal for a tighter spending cap in the Texas Constitution is described here on his website.

ALEC-sponsored materials, some of which Laffer has helped write, argue for lower rates of growth in state spending and bigger impediments to higher taxes, such as requirements they be passed by legislative super-majorities.

In a conference call with reporters, Erica Williams of the progressive Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington criticized ALEC’s recent reports.